HECLOT can achieve a CO2 capture rate of up to 90% says ITRI

Taiwan’s Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) has revealed that its High Efficiency Calcium Looping Technology (HECLOT) can achieve a CO2 capture rate of up to 90%. The technology was recently recognised in the ‘Environmental Technologies’ category of the 2014 R&D 100 Awards, and is due to receive its award for this in Las Vegas in November.

According to ITRI, the technology can achieve an initial capture cost of less than US$30/t of CO2 in a fossil fuel power plant. The capital cost of a HECLOT power plant is US$125 million for a 50 MWe unit, and the technology can also be integrated into retrofitted plants. The captured CO2 can be injected underground for Enhanced Oil Recovery and Enhanced Gas Recovery.

ITRI provides the following overview of the calcium looping technology: ‘HECLOT captures CO2 in the combustion fume coming out of power plant boilers. It uses calcium from limestone (CaCO3) as the carbon capture medium. Calcium is looped between two chemical reactions involving CaO and CaCO3 to capture and release CO2. In the capture, or carbonation reaction, calcium in CaO captures CO2 and becomes CaCO3. In the second reaction, the so-called calcination reaction, CaCO3 is reduced back to CaO, and CO2 absorbed in the first reaction and is released at high purity in the second reaction. By looping between these two reactions, CO2 can be collected and then stored away.’

Application in the cement industry

ITRI signed a patent licensing and technology transfer agreement with Taiwan Cement Co. Ltd in June 2013, which involves the construction of the world’s largest calcium looping pilot plant. This will have a carbon capture rate of 1 tph.

“Carbon capture has been around for a while, but has never taken off due to its high costs. ITRI's HECLOT has solved Taiwan Cement's and the cement industry's CO2 emissions problem and has reduced the carbon capture cost substantially,” said Lesley Koo, Chairman, Board of Directors and Supervisor at Taiwan Cement Corporation.

At present, ITRI owns three patents and 16 pending patents internationally for HECLOT technology. In the future, HECLOT will be available for licensing to cement producers and fossil fuel power plants.

“In the battle against global warming, HECLOT can play a significant role,” said Heng-Wen Hsu, ITRI's Deputy Division Director, Green Energy and Environment Research Laboratories. “It is the most effective and affordable CO2 capture technology available today and has the potential to estimate 10% of the global CCS market in the initial phase and can contribute even more significant capture in the future. It will allow for more rapid adoption of CCS solutions and can expedite the implementation of low carbon policies to help confront the issues surrounding climate change.”